Berea College - Chimes Yearbook (Berea, KY)

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The Inaugural Address of Francis S. Hutchins William J. Hutchins became the fourth president. He served this post efficiently for nineteen years. One of the obstacles he faced was the depression. Even so, Berea weathered this crisis without any serious defects. This was largely due to the fact that late in 1914 Charles M. Hall died, leaving one-sixrh of his residual estate of which Bereat gained possession in 1929. As the speculative stocks were sold, the returns from it became part of Berea ' s largest endowment. Because the mountain area was struck hard it was all the more reason for Berea to serve its students. In 1929 approximately 50% of the students were self- supporting, a good example of the college ' s ability to help its people. In the year 1955 as one looks out across the campus, he seems many familiar buildings that were erected during the William J. Hutchins administration. Among these buildings are Union Church (1922); Emery Building (1924); Elizabeth Rogers Hall (1925); Woods-Penn- man (1926); First Unit of Science Hall (1928); Seabury Gymnasium (1928); Vincent Goldthwait Memorial Agri- cultural Hall (1928); President ' s Home, Presser Music Hall (1931); New Wing of Hospital (1932); J. A. R. Rogers Art Building (1935); New Section of Library (1936); Draper Building begun in 1937, and other minor additions. Berea ' s history during this administration was not without its troubles. Students were confronted with many problems. One difficulty was that of health. In 1929 there were 438 cases of influenza and 400 cases of scarlet fever. These were only some of the diseases which befell the students. There was talk at one time of abolishing the Christmas vacation, the reason being that students were returning to school with communicable diseases and spread- ing them to their classmates. Vacations were not abolish- ed, even though the thought was given serious consid- eration. —9—

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came even more pressing as students began to flood the school. In these following years, the college began to clear its land, erected two small plaster buildings, a box chapel, a temporary Boarding Hall, two cottages for young men, and a combined store and dwelling for more teachers. Rogers and Fee, besides doing their regular work in Berea, were raising $18,000 for the erection of Howard Hall. Even more important was the calling of E. H. Fairchild to become Berea ' s first president in 1869. Between 1869 and 1889 one can fairly say the college felt a period of sky-rocketing growth. In 1871 Ladies Hall was completed; in 1879 a frame Gothic Chapel; in 1882 the railroad came; in 1886 Lincoln Hall was finished; 430 students were enrolled; and the endowment was $100,000. Generally not much is said for the intervening years between 1889 (Fairchild ' s death) and 1892, the beginning of William G. Frost ' s administration. A man by the name of Stewart was president, and he was by temperament suited to the work of a teacher rather than an administea- tive official. So there came a time of increasing debts and a corresponding loss of friends and influence for Berea. In 1892 William Goodell Frost accepted the office of Berea ' s third president. He might be termed the great molder, the great adaptor. It would be foolish to speak of this man in terms of buildings, the evolution of a cur- riculum, the growth of the endowment, and as a factor in bringing Berea into some of the country ' s most influ- ential circles, from T. R. Roosevelt to Woodrow Wilson. He did all these things, but more so let it be remembered that Frost brought to the college a sense of adaptability which is seldom seen in most institutions. We can show this by several pertinent illustrations. Over and over again, Frost repeated that even if a student comes to Berea for only five months, then these must be the most meaningful months of his life. The college must adapt, to his needs and when the needs change then the college must readapt. At the time when the Day Law was passed in 1904 the Berea endowment stood at about $400,000, money vitally needed by the school and collected only through the strenuous fund-raising campaigns of Rogers, Fairchild, and Frost. However, this money had been gathered at the time when Berea served both white and Negro stu- dents. Now the law required that Berea become either an all-white or all-Negro school. From every side it was an awful situation to face. The principle prevailed that trust funds must be used in accordance with the repre- sentation made when they were secured. Clearly the color- ed should have half the $200,000 gathered by Rogers and Fairchild in reconstruction times when the colored consti- tuted half the school ... The trustees worked out a formula by which half the property owned by the college up to 1892 and two-elevenths of the additional property secured when the Negroes were about one-seventh of the student body, making a sum in all of about $200,000, should go to the founding of a separate Negro school. Lincoln Institute in Kentucky. To this an additional $200,000 was placed in order that the new school might be a good school. In the period following the Day Law, electricity and student industries ( as we know them in the modern sense) came to Berea. The last of the college lands were cleared. The Industrial Buildings, Pearsons Hall, Phelps Stokes, a stone part of the library, Talcott and Kentucky Halls, the main building of the Hospital, Fireside, and James Hall were built. The West End village grew. So, in 1920 Frost left to William J. Hutchins an institution with many students and many buildings plus an increasing endowment. William J. Hutchins

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Naval V-12 Unit The expanding Berea was forced in 1925, for the first time, to refuse admission to mountain students even though they had graduated from accredited high schools. Since then many applications have been refused due to the limited facilities. This can be understood by the fact that at the beginning of William J. Hutchins ' term there were only 253 students enrolled in the college courses of Berea. When he retired, this number had increased to school and a 4-year college. over 400. By 1930 Berea obtained full standing in the Southern Association and made the approved list of the Association of American Universities. The endowment of the college, rose from slightly over a million to more than $10,000,000. So ends the administration of William J. Hutchins, a man interested in Berea becoming the center of culture for the mountain people. Francis S. Hutchins, son of William J. Hutchins, was chosen to become the fifth president when he was only 37. It is difficult to evaluate the work of a contemporary pres- ident. Usually such a history is not written until he has completed his duties. Even so, let us note a few develop- ments. First was the organization of the college into an upper (Junior and Senior) division and a lower division (second year in high school to second year of college) plus the establishment of Foundation School as a Junior High. This later gave way to the present system of high school and four year college. During the Second World War, Berea admitted a Naval V-12 unit to train officers. From 1943 until 1945 the records indicate that 783 men were given an education here, with several returning for their degrees. After the war, housing units were built to accommodate married vet- erans who wished to continue their schooling. It was under this administration that the following changes took place. Humanities, Biological Science, West- ern Civilization, and Social Science were added to the curriculum. The use of testing as a method of classifying students was used more extensively. The Director of ' Ad- mission office was established to replace some of the work done previously by the Registrar. Berea continued to grow both in size and endowment. Anna Smith dormi- tory and the completion of the Science Building are further proof of this growth. —10—